In what was expected to be the final game for Arkansas interim coach John L. Smith, the Razorbacks gave LSU a fight few if any would have anticipated.

The Tigers finished on top, winning 20-13. But the final score, a 28-yard field goal by Drew Alleman, didn’t come until the last 1:26 of the game. Arkansas had multiple chances to pull off the upset.

It made it down to LSU’s half-yard line and couldn’t punch it in, settling for a field goal that made it 17-13.

"That's the right call," Smith said of the field goal attempt. "I mean, you have to score twice to win it, don't you? At least, I think you had to score twice to win it unless my math was wrong. So do you take it there? You have to take the sure points and then come back you have to score again anyway. So that was the thought, and I think that's the right call."

An LSU fumble recovered by Arkansas was reversed by an LSU offsides penalty. On fourth-and-4 with 5 minutes left and Arkansas down 17-13, Smith called for a punt instead of taking a risk. LSU responded with the drive that ended with the field goal.

Truth is, Arkansas senior quarterback Tyler Wilson out-played LSU’s Zach Mettenberger. But the Tigers’ defense proved too tough. The team that entered fall camp with such lofty expectations gutted through scandal and disappointment and finished strong, albeit with a loss.

LSU concludes its regular season with two losses, to Florida and Alabama—two teams that could unbelievably end up in the national championship game. If No. 1 Notre Dame loses to USC, Florida beats rival Florida State and Alabama defeats Auburn and then Georgia in the SEC championship, the top two teams left would be Alabama and Florida.

"We'll take the next day and a half or so and watch TV tomorrow and be excited about it, and move forward and see how things go," LSU coach Les Miles said.

A year ago it was LSU in the title game. Mettenberger replaced Jordan Jefferson as the starting quarterback, but the Tigers never found a consistent passing threat to complement a stellar defensive unit.

In this game, Mettenberger completed 16 of 29 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown—a 22-yard pass to Jarvis Landry, who made a spectacular grab in the back of the end zone to haul it in. Alleman made two field goals. The other LSU score came off a 1-yard run by Jeremy Hill. That was set up by an 87-yard kick return by Michael Ford, and two other runs up by the middle by Hill.

Despite his team’s poor season, Wilson is positioning himself to become a first-round NFL draft pick. He passed for 361 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, and rushed for 36 yards on nine carries. He also completed passes to nine different receivers.